Gun-wad



W. G. BOND.

GUN WAD.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, I920.

1,358,279. Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

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T all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, WILLIAM G. Born), a citizen of the United States, residing at Wilmington, in the county of New Castle and State of Delaware, have invented cer-- .tain new and useful Improvements in Gun- Wads: and I do hereby declare the followmg to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had'to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. p v

This invention relates to improvements in gun wads and particularly to the wads which 'are interposed between the powder charge and shot charge of a shell adapted for use in trap and field shooting.

The exacting demands of modern sportsmen' is such that to supply factory ammunition every effort of the manufacturer must be bent toward securing more highly satisv factory results, both with respect to the pattern made by the charge of shot and with respect to the penetration at given ranges qualities of the loaded shells {becomes an additional important consideration. It is ,well known that the pattern and penetra; 7 tion are both profoundly affected not only by the character of the powder or explosive this has given rise to the employed, but by the method of loading and the character. of the wad or wads interposed between the powder and shot charges. The keepingqualities of theshell depend largely upon the character of the wad employed to protect the powder, and this in turn profoundly afiects the results obtained when the shells have been kept under varying conditions of humidity, inasmuch as the powder may either absoiymoisture or lose its volatile content.

It has been demonstrated that a relatively thick and somewhat elastic wad should be interposed between the powder and shot and wmmon practice of employing a felt wad oi' wads at this point, the edges of such wads Ming greased or provided with a semi-solid unctuous compound of some ln'nd, but such wads leave much to be desired, both in the economy, of production and in the results secured with their use. This has given. rise to, many efforts to produce a more satisfactory wad. Such efiorts have resulted in the suggestion of the use of comminuted cork with a bind ing material, but no one has apparently,

Specification of Letters Patent.

- problems to enable them to produce a wad which will give entirely satisfactory results. In accordance with the present invention the wad is preferably composed of comminuted cork, the particles of which are bound together by an insoluble binderof an elastic or flexible nature, while the particles of cork themselves are more or less impregnated with a hygroscopic substance or liquid which will preserve the inherent elasticity of the particles when subjected to either at- 'mo spheric conditions or to the contact of absorbent substances under such pressure as may be developed in the loaded shell. Such hygroscopic substance preserves the powder in its original condition or prevents it from change due to external hygroscopic conditions. Furthermore, the charac* teristics of the wad are such,-partly due to the process of manufacture and partly due .to the mechanical handling to which it is "subjected-that the cork particles are arranged in flake-like formation; that is to say, they are practically of normal dimension laterally of the axis of the wad and of less dimension axially of the wad, and in proximity to and at the periphery theyare somewhat. more dense and held under greater pressure by thev binder than at the center of the wad. With all of these characteristics it is, found that important and more satisfactory results may be attained if the periphery of the wad is formed by a surface which may be characterized as a molded surface and if the fiat faces of the wad are formed by cut surfaces, and inasmuch asthe desirable characteristics so obtained lend themselves favorably to an economical and satisfactory method of produc tion, the result is that highly satisfry wads may be placed upon the marketat a I Patented Nov. 9,1920. 1 Application filed July 30, 1920. Serial No. 400,001..

comminuted cork; having the internal char acteristics hereinbefore referred to and with an external coating of wax, a portion of said rod being shown in longitudinal section.

Figs. 2 and 3 are a face and edge view, respectively, of a completed wad which has been cut from the rod illustrated in Fig. 1.

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The practical operation of' producing wads in accordance with the present invention as practised by me at this time, involves a series of steps which may be briefly de scribed as follows, no claim herein being made for the process or machine, inasmuch as the latter constitute separate inventions which it is not desired to claim herein. The comminuted cork having been freed from foreign undesirable matter, such as grit or hard particles, is suitably treated with a composition embodying glycerin, gelatin, water and paraffimtogether with a coagulant, such, for example, as formalin, the proportions of cork, glycerin, gelatin, water and paraffin preferably employed being, for example, fifteen pounds'of cork, four and one-half pounds of glycerin, one and one-half pounds of gelatin, three pounds of water, one-half pound of paraffin, and a sufli cient quantity of .formalin to coagulate and set the gelatin to form an efficientbinder. The

prepared granulated cork, when treated with the ingredients above mentioned, presents the appearance of substantially dry highly elastic granules. The material is now fed gradually into one end of a tube and out of theother end under a considerable pressure, preferably obtained through the reciprocatory action, of a plunger, although Qother equivalent means may be employed, and during its passage through the tube it is subjected first to'a cooling zone, then to a relatively long heating zone, and, finally, to a second cooling zone, and at the end of the heating'zone or thereabout, it/is allowed to expand slightly in a. direction transversely, of the axis of the rod, this being usually accomplished by slightly tapering the tube for a short distance intermediate two portions of different diameters. In its passage through the tube, the cork-particles are subjected to the heaviest pressure at that point which is located a short distance back of the enlargement, and this is also the point where the heat penetrates thecolumn of particles throughout and, operates to make effective the binder material for uniting the particles. As the rod or column of cork moves into the area of larger diameter, it expands longitudinally to a greater extent than laterally, but, inasmuch as the pressure on the particles has been largely confined to longitudinal pressure, the particles still retain a more or less flake-like formation, but it is found that the elasticityis greatest in a longitudinal direction, due to the greater expansion in that direction and the apparent resistance of the particles to compression edgewise, owing to their being bound on all sides by adiacent particles and. to the action of the binder at the peripheral surface. It is also found that the particles in proximity to the peripheral surface are somewhat more dense and harder than those throughout the bodies both the central and peripheral por-' tions will curl outwardly when left free from external influences.

The flake-like formation of the particles is illustrated at B in Fig. 1 where the rod or column of cork A has been cut to show a longitudinalsection as will be readily appreciated by comparing this sectional formation with the transverse sectional formation shown in Fig. 2.

Those particles-which lie nearest the periphery, as indicated at C, are somewhat more dense and harder than those lying near the center. l

Preliminary to the severing of the rod into wads of the desired thickness, the column or rod is dipped in a bath of melted paraffin so as to rovide a thin, uniform surface'coating, W ich, will close the pores and any possible interstices that may be left in the molded surface and after the parafiin has hardened the rod or column is severed into wads of the desired thickness,

usually about three to five sixteenths of an inch thick. In performing this operation it will be noted that the resultant wads are formed with molded peripheral surfaces and cut faces and this is the condition in which they are preferably supplied for use.

WVads formed in the way described are found to give a better pattern than wads' heretofore provided. 7 They do not blow to pieces on emerging from thegun barrel,

that with the use of such wads higher chamber pressure may be utilized, or, what is equivalent thereto, the use of nitro or other high explosive powders will become possible without introducing undesirable characteristics in the action of the charge on the pattern but with the desirable result of increased penetration.

The. use of a. hygroscopic substance such as glycerin preserves the elasticity of the cork and the normal conditionof the powder under practically all conditions of atmosphere and use, and while glycerin is the preferred'liquid, it" is obvlous that other substances having the characteristics of preventing the undue elimination of water from the cork or of supplying a hygroscopic medium thereto, may be employed without departing from the present invention, and such substances maybe employed in wads'of other material than comminuted cork.

'hat is claimed is:

1. A gun wad having an elastic body with a hygroscopic substance incorporated therein.

A gun wad composed of comminuted elastic material containing a hygroscopic substance and an insoluble fiexible binder uniting the particles.

3. A gun wad composed of comminuted elastic niaterialcontaining a hygroscopic liquid substance and an insoluble flexible binder uniting the particles.

4. A gun wad composed of comminuted cork containing a hygroscopic liquid, and an insoluble flexible binder uniting the particles.

5. A' gun wad composed" of comminuted cork with the particles united by a flexible binder, said wad having amold formed peripheral surface and cut faces.

6. A gun wad composed of comminuted cork particles united by a flexible binder, said. particles being of flake-like formation with their average greatest dimension transversely of the axis of the wad, said wad having a molded peripheral surface and cut faces.

"LA gun wad composed of comminu ted cork particles united by a flexible insoluble binder, those particles located in proximity to the periphery of the wad being of greater density and hardness than those particles located centrally of the wad.

4. A gun wad composed of comminuted cork particles with the particles united by a flexible insoluble hinder. the particles in proximity to the periphery of the wad being under tension. and the particles in proximity to the center being under compression transversely of the axis of the wad.

"\VILLIAM G. BOND. 

